September 5, 2025 Episode: Health improved after coke plant closure; glass recycling and a cool tourist attraction
Release Date: 09/05/2025
Episode for January 23, 2026: Eastern wildfire, fracking waste and environmental news coverage
The Allegheny Front
This week, a new project will take on studying the risks of wildfire in Eastern states. Residents of an eastern Ohio town have concerns about fracking wastewater fouling their own water supply. As the Pittsburgh newspaper of record announces its closure, former employees look back and ahead at environmental coverage in the region. Pennsylvania lawmakers and consumer advocates blamed new data centers for rising home energy prices at policy hearing in the state Capitol. Researchers are trying to find new ways to remove microplastics and PFAS chemicals from drinking water. The arguments for...
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Episode for January 16, 2026: Powering data centers
The Allegheny Front
This week, demand for electricity is growing, largely from data centers. Meanwhile the Trump administration is making it harder to produce more renewable energy. Meta wants to purchase nuclear power from a power plant in western Pennsylvania. An Ohio commission approved another oil and gas lease under a state-owned wildlife area. Climate change might be causing native wildflowers to bloom earlier in Pennsylvania. We’re independent and non-profit, and we don’t get money from WESA, WPSU or any other radio station. So we must turn to you, our listeners, for support. Take action today so we...
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January 9, 2026 Tracking solid frack waste, making birds into bandmates
The Allegheny Front
This week, Inside Climate News tells us about their three-part investigation of solid fracking waste in Pennsylvania. We also look at the climate impacts of concrete, and talk with a couple that's taken their fascination with birds into the studio. We have news about environmental groups objecting to an air quality permit for a natural gas plant at the site of the former coal plant in Homer City, Indiana County, and research shows that salt used for winter de-icing is being found in Pennsylvania waterways throughout the year. We’re independent and non-profit, and we don’t get money from...
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Episode for January 2, 2026: Favorite stories of last year
The Allegheny Front
We’re asking our listeners to become members with a donation of any size. Your membership will help us keep the lights on and the environmental news flowing. We’re independent and non-profit, and we don’t get money from WESA, WPSU or any other radio station. So we must turn to you, our listeners, for support. Take action today so we can continue to keep you informed. Or send us a check to: The Allegheny Front, 67 Bedford Square, Pittsburgh, 15203. And thanks! On this week's episode: Some of our favorite stories from 2025 from across Pennsylvania: A nonprofit hopes to...
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Episode for December 26, 2025: Here comes the sun
The Allegheny Front
It's our end-of-year membership drive! Become a member today. Our nonprofit newsroom is powered by our members. Now through December 31st, every donation up to $1,000 will be matched. One-time donations will be doubled and monthly donations matched 12 times. Another $1,000 will be unlocked if we gain 50 new members at any amount. Or send us a check to: The Allegheny Front, 67 Bedford Square, Pittsburgh, 15203. And thanks! On this week's show: A former dairy farmer turned musician uses his story to get others in agriculture to talk about their feelings and find healing. And how a...
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Episode for December 19, 2025: Bears!
The Allegheny Front
It's our end-of-year membership drive! Become a member today. Our nonprofit newsroom is powered by our members. Now through December 31st, every donation up to $1,000 will be matched. One-time donations will be doubled and monthly donations matched 12 times. Another $1,000 will be unlocked if we gain 50 new members at any amount. Or send us a check to: The Allegheny Front, 67 Bedford Square, Pittsburgh, 15203. And thanks! On this week's show: How nature-based learning inspires human creativity. Pennsylvania is among the states suing the Trump administration over funding for...
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Episode for December 12, 2025: A safe place for hellbender salamanders
The Allegheny Front
It's our end-of-year membership drive! Become a member today. Our nonprofit newsroom is powered by our members. Now through December 31st, every donation up to $1,000 will be matched. One-time donations will be doubled and monthly donations matched 12 times. Another $1,000 will be unlocked if we gain 50 new members at any amount. Or send us a check to: The Allegheny Front, 67 Bedford Square, Pittsburgh, 15203. And thanks! On this week's show: A new nature preserve is dedicated to saving an ancient creature that lives in our region, the eastern hellbender salamander. The Trump...
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Episode for December 5, 2025: Fracking waste in landfills
The Allegheny Front
It's our end-of-year membership drive! Become a member today. Our nonprofit newsroom is powered by our members. Now through December 31st, every donation up to $1,000 will be matched. One-time donations will be doubled and monthly donations matched 12 times. Another $1,000 will be unlocked if we gain 50 new members at any amount. Or send us a check to: The Allegheny Front, 67 Bedford Square, Pittsburgh, 15203. And thanks! On this week's show: Drilling for oil and gas creates waste that can contain heavy metals and radioactivity, and much of it is sent to the same landfills as our...
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Episode for November 28, 2025: Apples, chestnuts and eggs
The Allegheny Front
It's our end-of-year membership drive! Become a member today. Our nonprofit newsroom is powered by our members. Now through December 31st, every donation up to $1,000 will be matched. One-time donations will be doubled and monthly donations matched 12 times. Another $1,000 will be unlocked if we gain 50 new members at any amount. Or send us a check to: The Allegheny Front, 67 Bedford Square, Pittsburgh, 15203. And thanks! On this week's show: An Allegheny County borough plans to vote next month on a plan to build a massive data center on the site of a former power plant. The U.S....
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Episode for November 21, 2025: Ohio River plan, trash instruments and Three Mile Island
The Allegheny Front
It's our end-of-year membership drive! Become a member today. Our nonprofit newsroom is powered by our members. Now through December 31st, every donation up to $1,000 will be matched. One-time donations will be doubled and monthly donations matched 12 times. Another $1,000 will be unlocked if we gain 50 new members at any amount. Or send us a check to: The Allegheny Front, 67 Bedford Square, Pittsburgh, 15203. And thanks! On this week's show: The Ohio River Basin is poised for a multi-year ecological restoration after decades of industrial pollution, but only if Congress decides...
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This week on The Allegheny Front, we talk to a researcher who found that health improved for residents after the closure of a coke plant that processed coal for the steel industry. He said, "There was like a healing going on in the community as the cumulative impacts of the pollution were reduced."
We visit a glass recycling plant in Western Pennsylvania. Even though "glass is infinitely recyclable, which other systems can't necessarily tout," Pennsylvania is behind other states when it comes to glass recycling.
We also go underground for a tour of a cool tourist attraction in Potter County — the Coudersport Ice Mine, whose owners say this summer has been their best yet.
Plus, we have environmental news about a settlement to clean up plastic pollution in a tributary of the Ohio River, the restoration of funding for the federal electric vehicle charging station program and a study that says fracking hasn't been all that good for the regional economy.
We’re independent and non-profit, and we don’t get money from WESA, WPSU or any other radio station. So we must turn to you, our listeners, for support.
Take action today so we can continue to keep you informed.
Or send us a check to: The Allegheny Front, 67 Bedford Square, Pittsburgh, 15203.
And thanks!